Fitted bedsheets which are applied in form-fitting relationship with respect to a bed mattress usually include a rectangular main body portion that lies flat on the upper surface of a mattress and a perimeter skirt that extends from the edges of the main body portion at an approximately right angle to fit about the sides of the mattress. Elastic bands extend along the edges of the head and foot portions of the skirt of the bedsheet or along the edges of the side portions of the skirt of the bedsheet so as to draw the skirt of the sheet tight about the bed mattress.
My prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,856,444 discloses a system which pays out sheet material, cuts the sheet material into segments, folds opposite side portions of the segments, and then sews diagonally across the four corners of the segments, thereby forming the four corners of the fitted bedsheet. Elastic banding material is sewn along the opposite sides of the segments before the step of folding and sewing are performed so that the fitted sheet will include the elastic banding for the desired form fit about the mattress. Although my prior system has been successful, the system forms a two ply triangular wedge of material at each corner of the fitted sheet which either is sold as part of the fitted sheet, which is undesirable to the customer, or which must be removed with an additional step in the production process, as with a drum cutter that is timed with the movement of the segments of sheet material. The mechanical removal of the wedges of material is a difficult task because the elastic banding previously sewn into the fitted sheet tends to gather the material at the corners of the fitted sheet and controlling the sheet during cutting is difficult.